Introduction: The Reading Protocols of Latinx Speculative Fiction
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Published:November 2024
The introduction proposes Latinx speculative fiction as a reading praxis, illustrating how reading through its paradigms we can better understand depictions of violence as veering into the otherworldly. It showcases the pivotal role of historical violence in shaping Latinx literature and latinidad, while also highlighting the many forms of pleasure derived from these depictions. Laying the foundation for the chapters that follow, the author delineates how “doom patterns”—narrative devices such as nonlinear narration, character fragmentation, and multivocal prose—consistently return the reader to moments of destruction; this mechanism, the author argues, underscores how violence is repeated in form. Doom Patterns transcends traditional genre confines, emphasizing how the reading protocols of Latinx speculative fiction unearth seemingly hidden elements in a text. By challenging established definitions of genre, identity, and history, Doom Patterns suggests that Latinx speculative fiction illuminates the ubiquity of violence in literature and broadens our comprehension of thematic literary networks across cultures and historical eras.